The 12/5/3 Bowler Development Model

Hong Kong recently played host to the World Youth Championships, which is contested every two years. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see future talent performing on bowling’s biggest stage. Sitting in my hotel after this event was the perfect time to respond to a question I receive often from bowlers who have aspirations to represent their country in such an event or compete professionally on the PBA tour.

World-class skills could be seen in the talented bowlers in Hong Kong. Many had been training for at least a decade and it showed with outstanding performances, including a record-setting performance by Wesley Low of the USA. Wesley established a new 18 game All Events record with 4,224 (234 average), besting the previous record held by Dom Barrett of England who torched the lanes in Orlando in 2008 with 4,153 (230 average).

Many bowlers tell me they want to become a world-class player. Yet, many are not really willing to sacrifice the amount of time or to engage in the training behaviors required to become an elite player.

The 12/5/3 model

The 12/5/3 model represents 20 total hours of training per week on and off the lane. Of the 20 hours, 12 are on lane work, five hours are fitness and conditioning, and three hours are sport psychology activities. Over the course of a year, this training will yield over 1,000 hours of purposeful development (i.e. 624 hours of bowling, 260 hours of conditioning, and 156 hours of sport psychology). The 12/5/3 will develop a holistic player and help prepare you to become your best over five to ten years.

The 12/5/3 illustrates a high level of commitment to becoming an elite player over many years. If it is impossible to commit to 20 hours, an individual can break up their total ...